Chief Innovation Officers in State and Local Government (Interactive Map)

Blue pinpoints signify a city chief innovation officer; green indicates a county-level chief innovation officer; and a yellow pinpoint indicates a state-level chief innovation officer. Data current as of March 28, 2014.

Over the past couple years, Government Technology has covered the rise of a new position in government that holds a particular kind of promise: that of the chief innovation officer.

While there’s usually a technology component in the job description of this new breed of CIO, it’s by no means a given. Often unfettered by the typical duties assigned to a chief information officer, which focus on keeping IT systems functioning to serve business needs, chief innovation officers are charged with implementing fresh ideas that have the potential to transform government.

Some innovation officers find their duties merged with traditional CIO responsibilities, as is the case in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City. Others, like those in Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn., have titles that reveal a link to their jurisdiction’s economic development endeavors.

While the idea may have its skeptics, Montgomery County, Md., Councilmember Roger Berliner told Government Technology in late 2012 that creating a chief innovation officer position is one way to change the culture of government. “People have said to me you can’t shift the culture with a new department, but I don’t know how else to do it. Change is a hard thing. Maybe a beacon of innovation can begin to change things.”

Click on the links in the map above to see the various forms innovation takes in different state and local governments (data repeated below).

Government Technology editor Noelle Knell has more than 15 years of writing and editing experience, covering public projects, transportation, business and technology. A California native, she has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history. She can be reached via email and on Twitter.